Finishing machine



April 30, 1929- J. GOULDBOURN 1,710,728

FINISHING MACHINE Filed July 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .90

April 30, 1929. J. GOULDBOURN I 1,710,728

FINISHING MACHINE Filed July 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Fig. 2.

Patented Apr. 39, 1929.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH GOULDBOUR-N, GF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TOUNITED SHOE Ill-IA- CHIN ERY CORPORATION, OF PATTERSON, NE!

JERSEY.

JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW FINISHING MACHINE,

Application filed July 20, 192-5, Serial No. 44,795, and in GreatBritain August 22, 1i924.

This invention relates to finishing machines and is illustrated asembodied in a machine for butting various blanks or parts for boots andshoes, such for example as soles, insoles, counters, toe boxes and thelike.

While the buffing of soles and insoles which are of substantiallyuniform thickness may be carried out by various machines satisfactorily,such as that shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,280,639,granted Oct. 8, 1918, on the application of Beier and Bock, suchmachines in general are not adapted for use on shoe parts of varyingthickness such as counters, toe boxes and the like. These latterarticles are of irregular shape and prior to their presentation to thebutting machine are beveled to reduce the periphery to a minimumthickness with the result that special mechanism required for the properpresentation of their beveled surfaces to a butting roll. The use of amovable feeding device provided with one or more matrices has beensuggested but such an arrangementinvolves the disadvantage of requiringthe placing of pieces of work in the matrices with some exactness sothat the production of the macnine is seriously reduced as compared witha machine in which there is a steady progression of pieces of the work.Such machines, also, do not utilize the abrasive material to as goodadvantage as those in which there is no necessity for presentation ofthe pieces to any one area of the feed rolls or the abrading device.

One object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide animproved machine for buffing parts of boots and shoes which will be welladapted for treating articles of uniform thickness and by the use ofwhich the treatment of articles having beveled surfaces or otherwise notuniform in thickness may be facilitated.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, there is provided awork-presenting mechanism comprising a presser arranged to urge the workagainst. the treating tool, the presser being mounted for yielding movement as a unit when a sheet article of substantially uniform thicknessto be operated upon and mane up of individually yieldable pressern'iembers which are movable relatively to one another in order that thevarious portions of a sheet article with skived margins or other similarvariations in thickness may be pressed uniformly toward the treatingtool at all portions of its width as it is fed through the machine.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the presser isinterconnected with self-adjusting work-feeding devices and is arrangedto yield as a unit following its preliminary adjustment by said devicesso that articles of substantially uniform thickness have the same amountof material removed regardless of the thickness of the different piecesof work. On the other hand, when the machine is to be utilized forcounters or other pieces of varying thickness, operator-controlled meansare brought into play to affect the operation of the presser bypreventing upward movement of the presser as a whole and disconnectingit from the self-adjusting feeding mechanism. As illustrated, thepresser ismade up of a plurality of presser m mbers in the form of thinplates individually yieldable and movable with respect to one anotherwith the result that all portions of an article of different thicknessesare pr0perly presented for treatment by the abrading tool.

These and other objects of the invention will be more readily understoodfrom consideration of the following description of the particularembodimentof the invention which is shown in the accompanying drawings,in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation with parts broken away and insection;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical transverse section of the machine; and

Fig. 3 is a detail view of a latch.

The illustrated machine is of the type disclosed in the above-mentionedLetters Patout, to which reference may be had for a more completedescription of those parts herein not fully shown or described, andembodies a centrally disposed power-operated abrading member 10 andpower-driven lower feed rolls 20, 22 disposed ahead of and behind theabrading member, together with cooperating upper feed rolls 32, 34,-mounted for up-and-down movement in unison, and a presser member forholding the work against the abrading tool.

The abrading tool 10 of the present machine comprises an endless beltpassing over an upper pulley 12 mounted on the frame 14 of the machineand held taut by a lower adjustable pulley (not shown), power beingsupplied to drive one or the other of these pulleys at a suitable speed.Mostof the other operating mechanism, instead of being mounted directlyin the frame of the machine, is carried upon atable 16 hinged about anaxis 18 coinciding with the shaft of the rear lower teed roll 20. Thisroll 20 and the front lower teed roll 22 are positively driven forrotation in the direction indicated by the arrows in 2, and. togetherwith the abrading tool 10, project through suitable openings in the flatupper surface 24 of the feed table 16. A rotary cleaning brush 26 mayalso be provided the rear of the machine to remove the dust from thefinished work.

A carrier 30 for upper feed rolls 32 and 34 is slidably mounted uponvertical rods 36 and 38 (Fig. 1) secured in the table 16, these upperfeed rolls being idly mounted so that they co-operate with the lowerteed rolls and, during the passage of the work through the machine,rotate in the direction indicated in Fig. 2. The upper feed roll carrier30 is connected by means of uprights 40 pivoted thereon to intermediatepoints on links 42 and 44 which are duplicated. upon the two sides ofthe machine and are carried at the upper end of posts 46 and 48 mountedupon the table 16. The inner ends of the links 42 and 44 are joined toone another and to a slidable block 50 guided in a vertical slot in thecarrier 30 as indicated in Fig. 1. A spider 52 is also slidably mountedupon the vertical rods 86 and S8 and has arms engaging the upper ends ofthe uprights 40. Springs 54, surrounding the rods 36 and 38 bear againstthis spider and hold the upper feed roll carrier down to keep the upperfeed rolls in engagement with the work. With this arrangement, when apiece of work is presented to the right-hand side of the machine asshown in Fig. 2, the forward upper teed roll 34 wi l be raised inaccordance with the thickness of the work and the rear upper feed roll32 will be raised an equal amount.

(lo-operating with the two sets of feed rolls and interposed betweenthem is a presser comprising a carrier having: arms at its upper side bymeans of which. it is slidably mounted upon the rods 36 and 38 as sh wnin Fig. 1. said carrier 60 being recessed as shown in Fig. 2 for thereception of a plurality of individual presser members in the form ofthin plates 62 shaped shown in Fig. 9.. Plates 62 are arranged side byside for sliding contact with one another. and thus they support oneanother against tiltin The end plates are supported against tilting bysliding contact with the inner sides of the carrier 60. Each of theseplates 62 is provided with an elongated aperture through which rod 64 ispassed which enters en larged openings in the sides of the pressermember carrier 60 and is adjustably supported therein by means of screws66. Thus the lowermost level of the active face of the pressr, when theplates are acting in unison, may be adjusted y these screws 66 tocorrespond to and be parallel with the upper surface of the abradingdevice. Stops 68 are provided. secure-l to the carr er 60 to l nit thedown ward movement o1 said p r-ci' member carrier 60 by engagement withbosses upon the machine frame and its upward movement is emit. illttl bymeans of a centrally .llirillUHQil light spring 70 surrounding andurging down a pin 72 which passes loosely through an openingin thespider 52 and bears at its lowerend against a crossbar T4 in the presscrmember carrier 60. The spring 70 confin d between an adjustable nut 76upon the pin T2 and a header 78 carried upon the upper ends of thevertical rods 36 and 3. it will be noted that the upper end of the 1 in72 is slidably mounted in the header 78 and that rotation of said pin is.n'evented 1 as ot a pin 80 entering a slot 82.

Each individual presser plate (32 is urged toward its lowermost positionby means 6ia coiled spring 84 2 hearing at one end against the presserplate and adjustab'lv socured at its upper end by means of a screw 86passing through the crossbar 74. T he strength of each of the individualsprings 84- s considerably greater than that of the s} nine 0 so that,when the machine is being use ror insoles or other articles of uniformthi ness, the presser will move as a unit and there will be no relativemovement between the presser plates 62. The upper :tccd roll carrierwill be raised as soon as the article enters the machine and lifts theteed roll 34 and is arranged in turn to raise the prcsser member arrier6 a predetermined and slightly less amount a; -inst the tension of thespring 70. as will be explained later. As a result, a fixed ount willalws he removed by the abradll, regardl of variations in the thick-- ofdifferent pieces of work.

When, the other hand, the machine to be used for counters or the like ofnon-uniform thickness, operator-controlled means brought into play toprevent upward novement ot the presser nember carrier 6). said meanscomprfsirig, a rotatable stop 90 mounted upon the header 78 in positionfor engagement with the upper end or" the pin l lVith this condition,the s 70 is r inehective and the indi. .121] G2 are raised by the Workoi the springs 84 in accora "*ice with the ing thickness of the piece ofwork beneath th v presser that the beveled sure if when work of uniformthickness is being passed through the machine or to yield individuallyin accordance with the varying thicknesses of different parts of a pieceof work in order that the various surfaces thereof may be held againstthe abrading tool so as to be adequately and properly treated.

Automatic adjustment of the machine by the work itself, so that apredetermincd amount is removed from the work by the abrading toolregardless of the thickness of the work. is effected as a result of thecm operation of the upper feed roll carrier and the presser membercarrier (it) which takes place through movable spacing arms 92 pivotallymounted upon pins 94 in the presser member carrier and recessed at 96for en gagement with studs 98 in the upper feed roll carrier 30. Springs100 surround the pins 9 1 to hold the spacing arms frictionally in theposition in which they are placed, either vertically to make themeffective or horizontally to make them ineffective. From an inspectionof Fig. 3 it will be seen that there a slight amount of play betweenstuds 98 and the bottoms of the recesses 96. This play governs theamount of material to be removed when using the machine for articles ofuniform thickness, such as insoles. because the presser is raised aslightly less amount than the upper feed roll carrier is when a piece ofwork is introduced. The difference, in move ment, and hence the amountof material removed, is. with a given adjustment of the machine,predetermined and may be exactly equal to the spacing or play and is. atany rate, independent of the thickness of the piece of work. hen. on theother hand. the machine is to be used for articles such counters thesespacing arms are swung out of the path of the studs 98 so that thepresser is then not raised by the feed rolls but; is governed solely bythe entrance of the piece of work between it and the abrading device.thus insuring proper action of the abrading device upon the beveledentering and leading ends of the piece of work as well as upon thebeveled sides of the work.

To insure that. when short articles such certain sizes of toe boxes, areto be buffed. the work will not be released by the front: pair of feedrolls before it is engaged by the rear pair and therefore thrown out ofthe machine by the butting roll. two auxiliary feed rolls 102 and 10 12) are provided located one at each side of and close to the presser memher and between that member and the adja cent feed rolls. Theseauxiliary rolls are driven at the same peripheral speed as the main feedrolls and are mounted in the upper feed roll carrier 30. Ribs 106 areprovided in the work table 16 immediately below the auxiliary feed rollsso that the piece of work is gripped between these ribs and the saidrolls and undue frictional contact between the piece of work and theupper surface 24 of the work table is avoided.

Thus the illustrated machine is well adapt ed for use upon pieces ofwork having substantially uniform thickness, such as soles or insoles.and is equally well adapted for bufiing pieces of work of varyingthickness, such as counters or toe boxes with beveled edges andirregular shapes. \Vhen the machine is to be used for butting insoles,it is put into the con dition in which it is illustrated in Fig. 1 withthe stop 90 turned aside and the spacing arms 92 in vertical positionfor engagement with the studs 98. In this condition the presser membercarrier 60 will be raised as a whole by means of the connecting links 42and 44.- an d the spacing arms 92 when a piece of work is insertedbeneath the leading feed roll 34. The play, resulting from the recess 96in Fig. 3. causes the presser member to be lifted a less amount than thefeed roll is lifted so that a proportionate and predetermined amountwill be removed from the work by the action of the abrading tool.

Such operation is not satisfactory for articles such as counters,however, not only because of the variations in thickness of the worktransversely of the machine but also because of the variations inthickness of the work in the direction of movement of a piece of work asit progresses through the machine. Thus when the beveled forward end ofa counter comes into position beneath the presser member. it may verywell be that the full thickness of the counter will be beneath the feedroll 34. thus tending to lift the presser n'ieinher, under the mode ofoperation described above, an amount such that the beveled forward endof the piece of work would not be held against the abrading tool at all.Consequently for this sort of work the stop 90 is turned into positionto prevent, upward movement of the rod 72, thus holding the pressermember carrier 60 at a fixed distance from the abrading tool. and thespacing arms 92 are turned aside. where they are held by the springs100, so that the front and rear upper feed rolls are free to move up anddown in unison without a tl'ecting the presser member carrier. Underthese circumstances the varia ions in thickness of the work are takencare of by the movements of the individual presser plates 62 under theaction of their :-})lil1 t{: with the result that all portions of thesurface of the work are properly treated so that the edges are reducedto a feather edge and the central. portion of the counter is slightlybutted without the removal of an undue quantity of material.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent. of the United States is:

l. in a machine of the character described, a work-ln'cscnting mechanismen'ihodying a plurality of presser members constructed and arranged toyield independently in relation to one another to accommodate localvariations in the thickness of the work and mounted as a unit to yieldbodily to accommodate the maximum thickness ot' the work, andoperator-controlled means for preventing such bodily movement andpermitting only the independent movement of said pressed members.

12. In a machine of the character described, a work-presenting mechanismcomprising a presser made up of a plurality of presser membersindividually yieldable with respect to one another. means which maypermit the presser to yield as a whole when the work is of substantiallyuniform thickness throughout, and operator-controlled means constructedand arranged to afi'ect the operation of the pressor so that theindividual units only will yield with respect to one another when ditlerent parts of a piece of work vary in thickness.

3. In a machine of the character described, a worknesenting mechanismcomprising a pre 1' embodying a plurality of relatively movable pressermembers. spring means arranged to allow the presser to yield as a unit,individual springs for said presser members each of which is strongerthan said spring means, and means whereby said presser may be lockedagainst yielding movement as a whole, to the end that relativeindividual yielding movement of the various presser members may resultfrom the presentation of a piece of work in which different parts varyin thickness.

4. In a machine of the character described, a work table. awork-presenting mechanism having a plurality of presser membersconstructed and arranged to yield independently in relation to oneanother to accommodate local variations in the thickness of the work asthey urge the work toward said table, said work-presenting mechanismbeing const ructed and mounted as a unit to yield bodily to accommodatethe maximum thickness of the work, and operator-controlled means torpreventing such bodily movement and permitting only the independentmovement of said presser members.

5. In a machine of the character described, an abrading tool, a feedingmechanism, a prcsscr cooperating with said feeding mechanism to presentthe work to said abrading tool, said presser having a plurality ofmemand mounted as a unit to hers constructed yield bodily and to yieldindependently of one another only when said bodily movement isprevented. means actuated at the will of the operator by the work andresponsive to the thickness of the work for lifting said presser bodilya distance less than said thick ness by a predetermined amount so as tocause said abrading tool to reduce such thickby a correspondinglypredetermined amount, and operator-controlled means for preventing saidbodily movement and to permit only the independent movement of saidmembers when it is desired to reduce the thickness of the work inrelation to the local variations in the thickness thereof (3. In amachine of the character described, an abrading tool, teed rollsresiliently held against the work, a prcsser comprising a spring-pressed carrier and relatively movable self-adjusting elements insaid arrier, movable arms betwee the carrier and the feed rolls arrangedwhen in connecting position to adjust the position of the carrier withregard to the thickness of a piece of work being fed by the feed rolls,and means which may be positioned to hold the carrier rigidly inposition when the arms between the carrier and the teed rolls have beenmoved out of connecting position.

7. In a machine of the character described, an operatinginstrumentality, feeding means disposed adjacent to said operatinginstrumentality, a presser comprising relatively movable members,individual springs urging the presser members toward the operatinginstrmnentality whereby said members are constructcd and arranged tohold a piece of work uniformly against the operating instrumentality,said presser being slidably mounted as a unit for limited movementtoward and away from the operating instrumentality and means arranged inone position to hold said presser against sliding movement and inanother position to permit a free sliding movement.

8. In a machine of the character described, a treating tool, a pressermember carrier disposed adjacent to said tool, means for resilientlyurgin said carrier toward the treating tool, presser members movablymounted in said carrier, springs for urging said presser members towardthe tool, said springs being stronger than said resilient means, andoperator controlled means blocking the yield permitted by said urgingmeans for holding the carrier at a fixed distance from the treatingtool.

9. In a machine of the character described, a work table provided withan opening, a treating tool below said table projecting through saidopening. a feed roll carrier, a presser member carrier, common means onsaid table for slidably supporting said carriers, means for resilientlyurging each of said carriers toward the table, and means forinterchangeably engaging or disengaging said carriers adjacent to saidcommon supporting means.

10. In a machine oi the character described, an abrading tool, seltadjusting teed rolls, a carrier for a presser member, and displaceableconnections between said teed rolls and said carrier provided with apredetermined amount of play and constructed and arranged so that thefeed rolls lift the cara piece of work to the abraoling tool, and a rieraway from the abrading tool to cause the fixed rib upon said work tableadjacent to said machine to remove from the Work a portion abrading tooland beneath said feed roll and of material determined in part by theamount constructed and arranged to co-operate with of play in saiddisplaceable connections or, the feed roll to secure a grip upon theWork 15 when displaced, allow the presser member to While preventingexcessive friction between act independently of the feed rolls. the workand the Work table.

11. Inamachine of the character described, In testimony whereof I havesigned my an abrading tool, a Work table, a feed roll name to thisspecification. 1 co-operating with said Work table to deliver JOSEPHGOULDBOURN.

